Flying
by randomlyrite
Summary: a young girl is chased out of castle town and flees to Faron woods, but why are people chasing her? follow her as she meets Link and fulfills her destiny.
1. Chapter 1

I have always dreamed of flying. Now, as I fall to an inevitable death, I wonder… perhaps this is what flying would truly feel like.

Now in my final seconds, let me tell you of the moment my destiny was decided.

And maybe you shall work out, where it all started to go wrong.

* * *

I suppose that it all began when I was discovered in Castle town. A stray wind had struck me and blown down my hood, revealing my scarlet hair and tanned skin.

Initially there were only quiet whispers about the strange hair colour, but I knew that it would only be a short time for the town elders to work out what I was.

Dashing back to my small apartment I threw all my treasured items and necessities into a pack and left, speedily walking down the street, I made my way to the stable where I had my horse Nabooru was stabled.

After I saddled and mounted her, I kicked her into a sharp canter out of castle town, without a clue as to where to go.

Kakariko village wasn't an option. With such a small population I was bound to be noticed almost instantly.

I scowled, staring angrily at the sky as it started to rain, why was I suffering for the mistakes my people made over a century ago.

Urging my horse to go faster I let the rain attack my face and run through my red hair.

I had decided. I would go to Faron woods; perhaps some Kokiri still lived there and would take pity on me…

Shaking my head of my depressing thoughts I settled down in the saddle for what I expected to be a long and tough journey.

I reached the entrance to the woods and slowly and cautiously made my way in, trotting through the woods, we soon found ourselves in a large clearing.

A skinny man with a rather large afro sat in front a fire in front of me, as he turned to look at me I realised my hood was down and I had left my hair out for all the world to see.

Instinct took over, kicking Nabooru into a sharp gallop; I raced past him, though a spring and over a bridge, just as I thought I was safe, a small blonde kid ran out from the trees right in front of me.

Thinking fast, I pulled Nabooru's reins tightly to the right and braced myself as we fell and rolled to a halt, I hit the ground first, my head landing on a rock that was jutting out of the landscape. Nabooru landed with a sickening crunch onto my left leg.

Fortunately for me the blow to my head had caused me to black out, so I never actually felt the pain.

* * *

When I woke up I was in a comfortable bed and a fire was roaring to the right of me, a young blonde girl was smiling gently down at me as she held out a glass of water.

I took it gratefully and gave her a thankful nod before clearing my mostly unused throat.

"Where am I, may I ask?" I asked her politely

If possible her gentle smile increased "you're currently resting in the mayor's house in Ordon village"

"Ordon village?" I muttered confused, this hadn't been on any of the maps I had studied; then again our resources had been rather old.

The girl nodded and frowned "a local boy Collin said that you fell off your horse trying to avoid hitting him is this true?"

I nodded self loathingly "I'm so sorry. It's my fault, if I hadn't been going so fast, it'd never of almost happened"

The girl looked at me with surprise "oh! No don't blame yourself! He really should know better... What with Link riding around on his horse Epona crazily all the time!"

That made me relax slightly, at least these villagers weren't going to try and chase me out with pitch forks.

A squeak disrupted my thoughts "I'm so sorry!" the girl said blushing madly "I forgot to introduce myself, I'm Ilia" she bowed to me lightly in greeting

I smiled "my name is Lyra" I returned her bow, now feeling more at ease

But still… I had thought; it'd be better if I left soon, I'd be safer on my own.

I threw off my covers and tried to stand up, gasping when a shot of pain burst through my leg.

Looking down I noticed my entire left leg was covered in bandages and ached horribly.

Sighing with defeat I sat back onto the bed. Resigning myself to a fair few months stuck here.


	2. Chapter 2

About 2 months later my leg had almost healed completely, the villagers had kindly offered me the options of staying in any of their houses, but sensing my discomfort, decided to offer me an old abandoned house on the edge of town.

With a bit of cleaning I had the place looking respectable enough, after about a month of being here, the villagers had really gotten attached to me, and I often made a fair bit of money going around the village on various errands for them.

As kind and welcoming the people were here, I couldn't help but long for my homeland, the place I was raised in.

Regretfully, even if I was to return, there was nothing there for me now.

I had grown lazy and undisciplined as I waited for my leg to heal, so the moment I felt it had recovered sufficiently I created a small training area in the basement of my new house.

I was soon practicing again with the sword I had packed in castle town.

Fortunately the villagers here are humans, and lack knowledge of my race, well they're mostly human… there is one hylian, named Link, but he appears to have never really left the village, I assume he knows nothing of my people either.

Before I leave, I mutter a quick prayer to a crudely crafted statuette and leave the house.

That morning was the morning it started. I decided to spend the day with Link, we had grown to be friends, as we often shared chores, and we both seemed around the same age.

I met him by his house and we slowly made our way into town, Link deciding I finally needed a proper tour around the village.

Link proceeded to show me several spots of interest that mostly had to do with the kids. We walked a little further down the path, stopping at a small little place with a reddish-pink roof. I had already been here before obviously, but that didn't stop Link from jokingly informing me.

"And this is where the village shop is. Beth's parent's own it." He said dramatically waving his arms at it, like it was a monument

"You mean _this_ is where the slingshot is that the children have been talking about?" I asked him back in a joking tone

Link grinned. "The very place. I've been meaning to buy it for them so they'd stop arguing about it." He said, gazing almost longingly through the window at it.

"Well, well...if I didn't know any better, it sounds like the big, tough ranch hand wants to play with it, too." I said playing dumb

Link blushed "I told you yesterday, I'm getting it to entertain the kids."

"Oh, so you _are_ going to buy it. Have you decided to keep it at your house, too, and play with it when the children are not looking?" I snickered

"Shut up." Link muttered good naturedly before entering the shop

I laughed and followed him inside. It was a cute little shop. The front desk was neat and orderly and all the items were stacked neatly on the shelves. A older woman stood hunched over the desk, pouring a little bit of milk from a bottle into a bowl every few seconds.

She looked up when I shut the door behind me. "Oh, Link, Lyra! Good morning."

I stepped up beside Link. "good morning Sera. It's wonderful out today"

"Yes. I suppose it is dear." She drawled slowly and sighed.

"What's the matter, Sera?" Link asked.

Sera sat up and propped her chin in her hand, still pouring milk into the dish. "My cat got out this morning. She still hasn't come back." She sighed again. "I can't go out and look for her, because I can't leave this shop unattended."

"What does your cat look like?" I asked, leaning on the counter now, too.

"He's white with brown patches on his back. Why?"

"Link and I will go and look for him."

Link turned to me, eyebrows raised. "We will?"

I glared at him a little. I knew it wasn't a dire situation, but it was better to get this task over with now before the sun got high in the sky and it got hot. "Yes, we will."

Sera brightened. "Oh, that's wonderful. Thank you, dear."

'But what about the slingshot?" Link whined.

I tugged on his arm a little and pulled open the shop door. "It will still be here when you get back, you know." I said, pulling him outside now and shutting the door behind us.

"Why can't you go and get it? I don't really like cats...and besides, we just got there. I didn't even get to look at it..."

I shook my head. "You'll be fine." I replied, walking along with him.

"Yo! Link! Up here!"

We both looked up and saw we were standing under a giant rock covered in vines.

Link waved and called back. "Hey, Jaggle!"

"You think you can come up here for a sec? Climb up those vines there."

He nodded at him. "You wanna wait down here or come up?" He asked me.

I smirked. "I am capable of climbing some vines." I said disdainfully as I took hold of one of the sturdy vines in front of me and started to climb.

It was harder than I thought. By the time I reached the top, Link was waiting for me. I took his outstretched hand and pulled myself the rest of the way up.

"I called you up here because I heard you two talking about Sera's cat." Jaggle said as he jerked a thumb in the direction of the opposite bank. "Isn't that it over there?"

We both glanced over his shoulder. Sure enough, a white and brown cat sat near the water. It got up every few seconds or so, swishing it's tail back and forth, pawing at something in the water.

"It's cute." I observed. "But what is it doing?"

Jaggle shrugged. "He's just been sitting there next to my house, having a staring contest with the creek."

Link watched the animal intently. "You don't think he's trying to catch a fish, do you?"

Link and I both jumped when Jaggle suddenly burst out laughing. "Ha ha ha! A cat can't catch no fish!" He wiped a tear from his eye and cleared his throat. "Anyway, that's not what I was meaning to tell you about. I want you to take a look at something..."

"What?"

He pointed at the rock behind us. "See that grass there growing on the edge of that rock? Haven't I seen you whistling with that stuff?"

"Yeah. That's hawk grass."

"Hawk grass?" I asked. "What's that?"

"I'll show you." He walked over and leaped to the other rock. I followed suit, and bent down to gaze at it. It almost looked like tiny fern's leaves, stretched out in the shape of wings. "You can use it to whistle on." He brought it up to his lips and played a short tune. The whistle was clear and pretty. It almost reminded me of something you'd hear on a flute or ocarina.

A few moments passed before I heard a strange sound behind me. Before I could turn and look over my shoulder, a hawk came swooping down and landed on Link's outstretched arm.

"Wow..." I breathed.

"You can pet him if you want."

I reached out and stroked the bird's soft feathers. "He's beautiful." I said. "But what do you do with him?"

"I can use this guy to get things for me if I want. Or knock things down. It's helpful at times when I can't reach things. Like..." He paused and turned to glance around. He frowned when he glanced down the river. "What the?..." Link jumped to the roof and kept going to the other rocks.

"Link?" I followed him quickly, landing on the last rock behind him. "What is the matter?"

"I might be just seeing things, but..."

"What is it, already?"

"I think there's a monkey down there holding a baby's cradle."

I peered down the river to where he was looking. On a moss covered rock like the one we were standing on, there was that pesky monkey, jumping up and down with a cradle in its hands.

"How did a monkey get into the village?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

Link shrugged. "It probably snuck in from the Faron Woods. But we might as well get that cradle back. Someone is probably missing it."

With gesture of his arm, he sent the hawk down the river. It quickly snatched up the cradle, to the monkey's loud squeaking protests, and dropped it in Link's outstretched hands.

"Piece of cake." He grinned smugly at me.

"Just don't drop it jumping back." I shot back.

Unfortunately for me, he didn't. I climbed back down the vines first and Link handed me the cradle. Well, more like dropped it on me.

"Hey, watch it!" I said, barely catching it in time before it hit the top of my head.

"Come on. I bet I know whose cradle this is..." He said, taking it from me and walking ahead. He stopped near an attractive young blond woman. Uli

"oh my cradle!" she beamed as she saw us, "thank you for getting it back!"

"A monkey had it" I told her smiling

"I see." She chuckled. "Oh, Colin finally finished that present for you Link. It's resting against the house on the front porch."

"Really?" Link strode towards the house, interested. He came back a few moments later with a fishing rod in hand. "This is neat. Colin did a great job with this." He cast it out a few times, testing it out.

Uli turned back towards the house. "I'd better get some chores around the house done. If you see Colin, tell him to be home in time for lunch, would you?"

"Sure. But do you need any help?"

Uli chuckled. "No, no, I'm fine. You'd better try to pry Link away from that fishing rod. He'll be there all day with it if you let him."

I laughed. "Good idea." I walked over and tugged on Link's sleeve. "Hey, is there anyone in there?"

"Yeah, sorry." Link reeled his line in. "Guess I got a little carried away."

"Now I'm really worried about you getting that slingshot."

"Be quiet."

I looked at the fishing rod thoughtfully. "Hey, do you know what we could use this for?"

Link smiled down at me. "Already way ahead of you. Let's get that cat a fish so Sera will stop moping and we can get that slingshot."

"You mean so _you_ can get that slingshot."

"Whatever." He walked down the path and took a right over a small bridge.

I followed as quickly as I could, having to take two strides for every one of his. Link walks _really_ fast when he has his mind set on something.

"Okay..." He strode out onto a small dock on the river. "This might take a while, so make yourself comfortable."

I sat down in the grass and slipped my shoes off, dipping my feet in the cool water. "Ahh..." I laid back and sighed with happiness. The water felt really good. It's been hot out today. I looked up in the sky to see the sun almost right above us. I had no idea so much time had passed by...It must be almost noon now.

"damn..." Link growled, reeling his line in. "Still nothing."

"It's only been a few minutes. Be patient." I said, placing my hands behind my head and lying down in the grass. "But if I were you, I'd put some bait on the hook before you tried again."

"You know, you could help..." He said, glancing sideways at me and attaching some bee larvae on his hook before lowering it back into the river.

I stretched and stood up. "I prefer the easier way. " I said.

Sera's cat sat watching us a few feet away. I got down on my knees and crawled to it, calling him like I did when I had my own cat back home.

"Here kitty, kitty, kitty..." I crooned. The small cat blinked it's big gray eyes at me and sauntered over, jumping into my arms and purring loudly. I grinned smugly at Link. "See? We did not need to catch a fish." I said, scratching the cat under it's chin.

Link held up a small striped fish with a heavy sigh. "Then what should I do with this?"

I was about to answer when Sera's cat leapt out of my arms and caught the fish in it's mouth. It blinked up at us, took off around the house and across the bridge, leaping into the kitty door on the shop's entrance. Link and I could only stare from the opposite bank of the river. Wow. Smart cat.

"I think you have just got your answer." I supplied, giggling a little.

He just shook his head. "I guess I did." He grinned a little, too, now. "Come on. Let's go see if Sera is happy enough now to actually sell me that slingshot."

We walked back around the house, me having to take extra steps to keep up with Link's long strides. As I passed a window, I could have sworn I saw Ilia in there, bent over a wooden table. She looked like she was making something... I paused to move a little closer and peered through the window. I jumped when Link called my name.

"You coming?" He asked.

I took one last glance at Ilia and turned back. "Yeah, I'm coming."

I fell back into step with Link and we headed for the shop.

"Wow, this is so cool." Link placed a seed in the slingshot and fired it at a tree. Several birds flew out in every direction, squawking loudly in protest.

"I thought you were only buying it to amuse the children..." I said, glancing at him sideways as we walked.

He nodded. "It is. But that doesn't mean I can't have a little fun with it, too, does it?"

I laughed a little. "I suppose so. Just don't get carried away and start shooting everything in sight."

"I promise."

"Wow, Link! Is that the slingshot?"

We both looked up and saw Malo, Talo, and Beth come running towards us. Well, for Malo, it was more like a waddle. He _is _only about 5 years old.

"That is so cool!" Talo said. "

Beth seemed especially impressed. "Wow! You had enough money to buy it, Link?"

"Will you show us it's power?" Malo asked.

I shook my head, and Link just beamed brighter. "Sure! Set up the targets!"

I watched, amused, as the three children quickly set up several targets on lower branches and on a scarecrow. Talo his brother up on his shoulders to reach the last place for the final target.

I stepped up and took it from them. "Here. Let me do it."

"Thanks, Lyra!" Talo said.

Malo jumped off his brothers shoulders and waddled back over to Beth, who was glaring at me now. I tried to ignore her. I hadn't done anything wrong (that I know of), so I'm just gonna assume that she's just in a bad mood or something. Talo joined them a moment later.

"Preparations complete..." Malo said.

His brother could hardly contain his excitement. "Okay, wow. This is great! Let's see how powerful that slingshot is! See if you can hit all the targets!"

"No problem." Link agreed, stepping up and aiming.

"I can't believe you two brats are so obsessed about this." Beth snapped, folding her arms. "It just shows what little boys you both still are."

I sighed and tried to focus my attention on the slingshot that the boys were watching intently. The girl wasn't worth getting upset over.

The younger girl brightened when she turned back to Link. "These two will never let it go, Link. Just show them." She ordered.

Link and I exchanged glances and he aimed again. A second later, and he let go, shattering one of the scarecrow's heads.

"That's amazing, Link!" Beth cried, adoringly. "You know, you can shoot it from all angles! It said so in the slingshot manual!"

Malo narrowed his eyes and gazed up at the older girl. "Did you call US obsessed with this thing? You're the one memorizing the manual."

Link just ignored them and fired several more shots, destroying the other scarecrow's head, and several more of the targets the kids had set up for him. I had to admit, I was impressed. This Hylian has good aim.

Malo, Talo, and Beth all squealed in delight.

"You really are amazing, Link!" Talo said, echoing my own thoughts.

He bowed dramatically. "Thank you." Link said with a boyish grin.

"By the way..." Beth interrupted. "Weren't you expecting Colin's dad to bring you by something today?"

I shook my head. "He gave him his wooden sword back yesterday when we were going to Ilia's house."

"Really? A wooden sword?"

"Can I see it for a sec, Link?" Talo took a deep breath and continued his explanation when Link gave him a confused look. "Seriously! Lately these monkeys have been coming out of the woods and playing tricks on us! We want to get them good!" The young boy pouted. "C'mon, teach us how to use it! Please?"

Link sighed and shook his head. "Alright, alright."

"YES!" Talo pumped his fist in the air and grabbed a stick to use of his own.

Feeling challenged, I wandered back to my house and retrieved my sword and staff, perhaps I could show them a few of my techniques later.

I sat down on a rock and rubbed my sore feet and watched as Link guided Talo through the basic sword moves. You know, like the horizontal slice, the vertical slice, that kind of thing.

I grinned as the kids squealed when Link stabbed the scarecrow and followed up with a spin attack. He was pretty impressive. Rusl must be a good teacher. I wonder if I can get him to teach me a few things?...

"Okay, now I really should go. I'm sure Lyra is getting bored watching all this." Link said.

I held up my hands. "No, no. You're very impressive. I'm enjoying watching."

"Ooh, thank you, Link!" Beth gushed. "I'm sorry you have to waste your time with these little brats when you must be tired from doing all the important stuff you do."

I rolled my eyes.

"Hey, wait!" Talo said, just as Link was about to sheath his sword. "You've got to show us the jump attack before you go! You know, the one where you go 'HYAAAHH!' and leap through the air!"

Link's blue eyes were pleading with me to get him out of there.

I grinned mischievously. "No, I would like to see that move, too, Link. Show us how strong you are."

Ha ha. Payback for almost dropping the cradle on my head earlier and being a show-off.

He just glared at me and swung his sword back, jumping high in the air. A split second later, and the scarecrow was torn in half.

"Whoa!" All three of the kids shouted at once.

I stood up and put a hand on his shoulder as he finally sheathed his sword.

"That really was outstanding, Link. Rusl is a great teacher." But you're still a show-off.

"Yeah." Link said. "I think so, too."

Talo scratched the back of his head. "So, uh...I think I get it...kinda...maybe not..." He clenched his fists. "So this means next time that one of those naughty monkeys shows up..." He turned and glanced over at the woods.

His eyes widened. "Wah!"

Link and I snapped our heads in the direction he was looking, but we saw nothing.

Talo brandished his stick and ran down the path. "C'mere you!" He cried, his voice carrying all around.

"Talo, wait for us!" Beth cried, chasing after him, Malo not far behind.

I glanced at Link. "We probably should follow them, huh?"

"Probably." Link agreed with a sigh. I think he was as tired as I was. You don't know what hit you until it's quiet and they're all gone. "But let's take the horses." He said. He moved over to pat the animals, speaking in hushed tones.

Link motioned me over a moment later. "I'll give you a leg up."

I scoffed and easily mounted Nabooru. "I am capable of it myself."

He climbed into epona's saddle and nudged her with his heels, urging her into a gentle trot.

I led Nabooru after him

The trees of the Faron woods seemed to close in around us as we reached the end of the path. Or what seemed like it. As I looked further ahead, I could see bits and pieces of it between grass clumps.

I looked up at Link. He was frowning. "This isn't good..."

"What isn't good?" I asked, knowing very well already what he meant.

"The three of them know they're not supposed to go past this area without me or Rusl..."

I carefully slid off Nabooru. "Are you sure they're not here?" I asked. It was a big area, after all. They could be anywhere. I began checking around trees and bushes, pulling branches aside. I got up to where the path began to really show again and I heard Beth.

She was resting on a rock farther on down the path. Her head snapped in my direction. I think she was expecting Link, because when she saw me instead, her features darkened. "What do you want?"

"Beth is over here, Link!" I called, ignoring her question and the fact that she was glaring daggers at me.

Link pulled up behind me on Epona. "Beth, where are Talo and Malo?"

"Talo and Malo went chasing after that thing like crazy people!" Beth said, standing and going over to Link. She clung to Epona as she looked up to him. "They left me behind! I can't keep up with those two!"

"It's okay, Beth. I'm sure they didn't go much farther." Link said, gesturing for me to get back on Nabooru

I nodded my head. And made my way back to Nabooru. As I returned quickly I heard him speaking to Beth

"Go on home. I'll let you know when we find Talo and Malo."

"But I want to go, too..." The girl pouted, acting like she was irresistible.

I put a hand on her shoulder. "I promise we'll be back as soon as…"

She yanked my hand away, furious. "I didn't ask you, you stupid outsider!" She said the word 'outsider' like it was a disease. "Mind your own business!"

"That's enough, Beth." Link's voice cut in sharply. "Lyra is coming with me, and you will go home. _Now_."

"But Link, I-"

"I said,_now_."

We both watched as a now sullen and sulking Beth turned on her heel and went in the other direction. I sighed as I watched her go. Outsider? It was better than some names I had been called in the past but still… I don't know what I did wrong, but I must've done something to make her hate me that much.

"Lyra..." Link began, gazing at me with sadness in those blue eyes of his.

I held up a hand. "No, she's right. I am an outsider. I don't belong here. That's why I'm going home as soon as possible." I smiled a little. "I don't want to cause any more trouble than I already have for all of you."

I walked ahead of Link and I heard him sigh behind me. I like being here. I really do. But it's far past time for me to go home.

We were both quiet now as we walked along the forest path. There were birds singing, crickets chirping, but the pleasant atmosphere that the day had started out with was completely gone.

"Lyra!"

I jumped, turning to scowl at Link. "Could you _not_ yell in my ear when you're directly behind me?" I asked.

Link frowned at me. "I'm not." He called, still back where he was a moment ago.

I felt a tug on my shirt and glanced down. Malo stared right back up at me. "Talo's disappeared into the woods." He said. "I'm too tired to keep going, so the rest is up to you and Link." And with that, he turned back and waddled towards the village.

Link walked up beside me on Epona. "What was that all about?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Talo's gone deeper into the woods...he must be still chasing that monkey."

"Across the bridge?"

"Well, if there's more woods over there, then yeah."

We both turned and glanced in that direction. Huge cliffs loomed around on the other side, and I could see no trace of trees anywhere. They must've been further in. I stepped gingerly onto the bridge and looked down. A rushing river raged below, with several sharp rocks jutting out of the water.

Link turned back to me with the same look he had given Beth. Oh, no. This can't be good news, can it? "This is where _you_ turn back." He said.

"Oh no, you are not leaving me here like a child" I said.

"It's too dangerous for you to go any further. And on top of that, you're unarmed."

I crossed my arms and let out a bark of laughter "Look, ranch hand, the way I see it, I'm more armed than you." I replied unsheathing my curved sword, letting it's sharp edges glint in the sunlight.

He sighed. "Are you always this hard-headed and stubborn?"

I grinned. "Are you always so impolite?"

Link pulled Epona up next to a rock and waited expectantly. "Well? Come on. We have to hurry."

I grinned and Urged Nabooru on, we raced across the bridge

The sound hooves clattering on the long wooden bridge echoed across the valley.

The narrow passageway of cliffs was about a half mile long and very eerie. It was like one moment it was bright and sunny, and the next, dark, cloudy, and foreboding. Thankfully that didn't last long and the forest appeared in the distance.

Link began to speed Epona up. "Hang on tight. There's a closed fence ahead that we're going to jump."

I narrowed my eyes and leaned into Nabooru as she lifted her legs and sailed over the fence, landing easily on the other side. I let out a shaky sigh of relief as Link slowed Epona down to a trot next to me. My legs would have given in if it weren't for the fact that I was sitting.

Another spring was up ahead, though this one was smaller than the one In Ordon, We turned the corner and quickly trotted through a damp and cool cave. On the other side, I breathed a sigh of relief.

Link halted Epona and jumped off, offering his hand to me. I took it and slid off, landing on the ground with a soft thud.

"We'll leave the horses here and go on foot the rest of the way." He said, moving to inspect the cave ahead.

When he was one step away from the gates, a large plant-like creature shot up from the ground. It was at least two or three feet taller than Link, and what should have been a flower, was a blue flower bud with ugly red teeth and green slobber. It reared it's head back, ready to attack.

"Link! Look out!" I cried.

He moved just in time, unsheathing his sword and cutting the plant in half. He stuck it once more for good measure, and it shriveled up, leaving a seed in it's place.

"Thank you, Lyra." Link said, sheathing his sword.

"What was that thing?" I asked, creeping up slowly to inspect the remains.

"A Deku Baba. They're pretty common around here, though I wasn't expecting one right there." He ran his fingers through his hair. "That was close."

I stepped closer to the cave, I let out the breath I'd been holding and peered inside.

"It's pitch black in there..." I said. "I can't see a thing." I took another small step, my foot landing on something that felt like a board or plank. "Hey! I think I found something!"

Link came over and picked up the thing that'd been under my foot. It was a small wooden stick, that looked like it'd been carved into a play sword. "This is Talo's..." He said.

"Talo's?" Now that he mentioned it, I did see Talo with a play sword earlier...but how did he get past the Deku Baba? It was bigger than Link, so I can only imagine how much bigger than him it was. "But you don't think he'd go any further..."

"No..." Link was frowning fiercely now, a look that didn't suit him at all. "Something is definitely wrong...And I intend to find out what it is.

There was an awkward silence for a few moments he stood, considering. Neither of us seemed to know what to say to the other. It'd been weird since Beth left.

The sudden crunching sound of footsteps from behind us made Link whirl around and draw his sword. He stepped protectively in front of me, ready in case a monster should appear.

The afro man, I had seen when I first entered Faron Wood stepped out from the conjoining area. "Whoa! Ordonians!" He said, eyes wide. "I thought I heard people out here." He stepped closer, despite Link still having the sword pointed at him. "Listen, I'm not sure you should be wandering around the woods without and lantern. Just because it's daylight doesn't mean it's safe. There are a ton of caves and dank spots around here that get pretty dark even in the middle of the day."

"You should be the one to talk." I said, annoyed. I don't like this guy's attitude. It's like he _owns_the woods or something. "You're the one wandering alone."

"Ah! My name is Coro. I live out here!" He said with a smile. "I have a small shop!"

"What do you sell, then?"

"Exactly what people going through theses woods need..." The kid turned back and motioned for us to follow. "I'll show you."

Link hesitated. I could see he didn't trust him. I didn't either, but I knew we needed a source of light, without it, we couldn't make it through the cave. "Come on, we might as well." I said, gently touching his arm and starting to follow after Coro.

"Okay...Just stay close to me." Link said, taking the lead.

I nodded. "Okay."

We plodded through the tall grasses to a small hut that looked like it would fall down any second. Shingles were coming off the roof, parts of the house were patched together with wooden boards and nails, and it looked like it was leaning.

Coro was sitting on a small log in front of his house. "You made it! Here, guy." He handed Link and me a lantern each. "Take this!"

Link looked suspicious. "Just like that?" He said, examining the thing all over.

"Yup. See, I sell lantern oil here...I'm trying to drum up sales by giving away free lanterns!" He grinned. "It's a business tactic, guy! See, as long as you've got oil to fuel your lantern, you can light you way and set fire to stuff."

I watched as a glimmer of excitement made it's way into Link's eyes when Coro mentioned he could light fire to things with it. He seemed to ease up a bit. "Cool." He said.

"Lanterns are the best! Go on, guy! Try setting a fire under that big pot!"

This seems familiar...ah, yes. Link got this excited when he got the slingshot, too. This isn't going to happen every time he gets a new weapon or item, will it?

Link bent down and lit the fire under a large pot. Coro beamed. "That's right! See! It's on fire, guy! Yeah! You keep using that lantern anytime you feel the need. And if it runs out of oil, you come see me to get it refilled!"

I waited for another few moments while Link chatted with Coro and bought a bottle of lantern oil just in case we ran out.

He came back over to me, a lit lantern in hand, and tucking the bottle of oil into a pouch he wore. "That Coro is not such a bad guy." Link said.

"Oh, really..." I glanced at him as we walked back towards the cave. "I seem to recall that you wanted to slice him in two a few minutes ago..."

He just shook his head and moved ahead of me to inspect the cave, holding the lantern up. I could see a torch ahead now, but that's all I could see. Link turned back to me. "I'll go on ahead and clear out the cave." He cut me off when I started to open my mouth to say something. "Then I'll come back and get you."

I scowled "why do you think I can't handle monsters myself? Is it because I'm a woman?" I asked bitterly, pushing my way past him and entering the cave.

I sliced and stabbed and viciously killed any monster that came to close to me, as I vented my anger.

As I reached the other side of the cave I noticed I was alone again, I must've left Link behind in the cave, sighing I laid down in the grass and cloud gazed, becoming lost in my thoughts.

"Lyra"

I looked up to see Link standing over me. "Yeah?"

He gave me a look of frightened respect, presumably for my slaughter of the monsters in the cave, before helping me stand up and we continued on, we eventually reached a large clearing.

Coro had been right. The deeper you got into the forest, the darker it got. Now it looked more like a semi-foggy evening than the late afternoon that it was.

I glanced around, trying to locate the gate, but I didn't see anything. "Where are we supposed to go?"

"There's a gate on the western side of the woods, that leads to another area. I hope that we can find Talo there." Link replied, scanning the woods carefully, sword in hand and ready.

We made our way through the darkened area, with me trying to trip over any of the tree roots that were sticking out of the ground. It didn't take long to reach the western gate (I'd say about ten minutes or so), which was good. Because it was locked.

"Damn it..." Link hissed under his breath. "This is normally unlocked. Whoever or whatever has taken Talo must've locked it." He kicked the gate. "Damn it!"

I placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Calm down. We'll find the key. We'll just start from here and search the forest for it. But if you don't take it easy, we might miss something and it'll take longer."

"I know, but..." He leaned against the gate, staring ahead into the dark tunnel behind it. "He's just a kid. If something happens to him, I'll never forgive myself."

"Link...Talo has a lot of fight in him. I'm sure he's just fine. Maybe a little scared, but just fine."

Link took another moment to compose himself, then turned and faced me with a soft determined smile. "You're right. But I still want to hurry."

"We will, I promise."

I stayed close to Link as we combed the entire forest, starting with the entire west side. When we reached the northern part of the woods, I spotted a cave, easily.

"Hey, let's try that cave over there." I suggested. We weren't finding anything, not even Bublins, which we had seen a lot sinr entering the forest.

Shrugging it off, I followed Link into the damp cave. The lantern light bounced off the walls, revealing the moss and other plant life that grew there. As we reached the end, we could see a chest, sitting above two unlit torches.

"Maybe that's the key." Link said.

"Let's hope so." I agreed.

As Link handed the lantern to me and jumped up to retrieve the key from the chest.

Link pocketed the gate key, I could tell he was tired, and so was I, As we exited the cave, it seemed darker than it'd been before.

We were both quiet as we made our way back to the gate in the central western part of the woods. All that was left was to open the gate and go get Talo.

Link slipped the key in the heavy lock and unlocked it, letting it fall to the ground at his feet.

"Not much longer to go, right?" I asked, wearily from behind him.

He turned and studied me, compassion in his eyes. "No, just another half mile or so." He answered quietly. "We'll be able to go back to the village soon."

It was about another 15 or 20 minutes or so before we stumbled through that tunnel. We'd met some Deku Babas along the way.

We emerged from the tunnel to find...well, nothing. The open area was quiet. I'd half expected to find a giant monster waiting here for us. But nope. Nothing. Not even a Bublin, which was strange.

"GRRRARRR! FWEEEEEEEEEEEET!"

I cringed at the loud, piercing screech that filled the glade...Not again...what could it be now? Nothing can possibly be any worse than that goat monster...I've had my fill of goats to last me a lifetime, thank you very much.

Link seemed to notice how weary I was and made me sit down on a nearby stump. "Stay here. I'll check it out." He said, sword ready and in hand. This time, I didn't argue.

"Huh?" A squeaky voice piped up from beside us. "Hey, the evildoers are all gone! Wait, are you...a customer?"

We both turned to glance at the voice and saw a small blue bird, with a head of feathers that looked much like Coro's hair. If it's asking if we're customers, then that means there are no more monsters! Yay! That was music to my ears. But did it really need to screech in my ear?

"Oh! Hey! Sorry!" It squawked, spreading it's wings. "So sorry! Please forgive me! Welcome! Hey! Buy something! Anything!"

Link bought another jar of lantern oil for our trip back. It was starting to get dark and who knew what kind of things would be creeping around at night...I shuddered at the thought of giant spiders crawling around in the shadows...It was possible they'd be back by now.

He paid for the oil and came back over to me, offering me help up. "There's no signs of Talo anywhere..."

"Hey! Are you two looking for a kid, hey?" The bird piped up from his shop.

"Yes." I answered quietly. "Have you seen one? A young boy?"

The bird gave a chirp and pointed a wing towards a long and carved out tree root that led up to an even bigger tree. "Some evildoers took a kid up there a long time ago, hey. And a monkey."

"Thank you." I said, jogging to catch up to Link, who'd taken off running at the words, "kid" and "monkey".

He was already breaking the cage by the time I reached the top of the long tree root. Or trying to. The lock on it wouldn't break or budge.

"Talo, bend down and cover your head, okay?" I said.

Talo nodded, eyes wide as I swung my sword back and sliced off the top of the cage in one swing. Link broke down the bars and helped Talo out.

"Wow, that was so cool!" He said, jumping up and down a little, the situation seemingly not have affected him at all. "Can we do it again tomorrow?"

"No!" Link and I both said at the same time.

He knelt down next to the younger boy and gave him a talking to. It was amusing for the most part, because whatever Link said didn't affect the boy a bit.

Once it was clear that Talo wasn't going to take either of us seriously (I tried after Link did, but it was still no use), we decided to head on back.

"We'll just let Rusl talk with him." Link said quietly, as Talo walked a ways ahead of us.

"That's...probably a good idea." I agreed.

Link had given the boy back his play sword and he was now dancing around, pretending to fight an imaginary monster. Every once in a while he'd let out a "Hyahh!" or, "Take that, evil demon!". I just groaned and Link would sigh heavily.

You know what? Add overexcited kids to the list of things I need a break from. Talo is exhausting.

If Link was tired at all, he didn't show it much. I, on the other hand, couldn't care less if I looked tired or not, because that's what I was. Sore, too. Link guided Epona briskly back to the village as if he'd only been on an relaxing evening jog or something like that. If I'd had the energy, I'd slug him for being so...well, _awake_.

Talo had gone back with Rusl, who'd been waiting for us with Epona. He'd looked at both of us strangely when we came through the tunnel. We must've looked like we'd been through hell and back. Link had explained quietly that he'd talk to him about the events of tonight when he dropped me off with Ilia and the Mayor. Rusl had just nodded and led Talo down the path,

Link pulled Epona to a gentle stop in front of the Mayor's house. Ilia was waiting for us, sitting patiently on the front steps. She hopped up the instant I slid to the ground.

"Are you two okay? What happened?" The worry in her green eyes said she'd been waiting here for a long time, probably pacing back and forth.

Link slid off of Epona behind me, his boots making a soft thud on the ground. "It's just been a long day, Ilia. She needs food and rest more than anything."

"You need all that, too. Again, what happened?"

We'd made a promise to each other not to say a word to Ilia about any of it. I'd only worry her and the rest of the village. And with both of us heading off tomorrow...it just wasn't good timing. Link was only going to let Rusl know. I'm pretty sure Colin already had, though. How else would he have known to meet us?

She sighed when we didn't say anything. "Why don't you two come inside and have something to eat?" Ilia said.

Link shook his head. "Thanks for the offer, Ilia, but I'll pass tonight. I need to talk to Rusl about some things, then I'm going to head on home." He turned his gentle blue eyes on me. "You gonna be okay?"

"Yeah. Just tired from all the excitement." I said with a slight smile. "I'll survive. I'm a toughie."

He didn't look like he believed me. Heck,_I_wasn't sure if I even believed me. "You like you could keel over any second."

"Thanks for your confidence."

"Just get some rest and eat something, okay? We're leaving in the afternoon tomorrow, so sleep in all you want." He nodded to Ilia and I. "Goodnight." With that, he turned and walked across the way to Rusl's house. One knock and he disappeared inside.

I sighed and leaned on my sword as I watched him go.

Instead of following Ilia into the house, I tiredly made my way down to my own house, making my way indoors, and up my stairs, I gave a sigh of relief when I finally reached the top. Leaning the sword against a wall, I slipped off my shoes and climbed into bed, not bothering to change in a nightgown.

After I pulled the covers over me, I was out completely.


End file.
